Friday, August 16, 2019

Government - that's quite a story!

There are three principle elements of government, Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The Legislators make the laws, the Executive enforce the law and the Judiciary interprets and applies the law.

There are over 200 different forms of State Government - Republicans, Monarchies, Autocracies and is some cases Theocracies. Sadly none as yet own Gods rule exclusively.

The world in its present state is groaning under the burden of sin and is crying out for righteous government, this will be here sooner than many people expect. Demonstrations in many countries are all too familiar, with people objecting to the legislation, the executive and the judiciary in their various countries. Calls for change of government are becoming commonplace, caused by the discontent of the people for their governors.

Pontius Pilate was Rome’s’ executor in Israel at the time of Christ’s time on earth.Pilate acted as Judge and executor in the mistrial of Jesus. Three times he declared that he found no fault in Him, repudiating the Jews' call for Christ to be crucified. In his executive role he went against his judicial findings and delivered Jesus to be crucified which was a travesty of justice. His violation of truth and righteousness caught with him later when the Roman General Titus invaded Jerusalem (AD70) and sacked the city and burnt down the temple leaving Jerusalem in ruins.

There will yet be another destruction of Jerusalem when Antichrist comes to set up his universal government, indicating the finality of the “times of the Gentiles” as recorded in Luke ch 21v24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

The government of the Man of Sin will be despotic, cruel and evil and only the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives and the Battle of Armageddon in the Valley of Jezreel will put an end to that regime.

The end of the Psalm 22 (v27) reads “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’S and he is the governor among the nations.”

This prospect of future blessing for the inhabitants of planet earth is founded upon the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and His presence on the Throne of God in heaven. The day that Christ rose from the dead he joined two people travelling the road to Emmaus and engaged them in conversation about the scriptures telling them of the whole panoply of events including his sacrifice at Calvary and the glory of a coming kingdom. He said in Luke ch 24 v 25 &26 “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”

Many people today place more value and importance upon the pound that is in their pocket than the value of their precious soul. Christ paid for the redemption of a sinful soul by His own blood shed upon the cross. How foolish it would be to ignore what God has provided for the salvation of your precious soul and trust instead words and actions such as Pilate expressed in condemning the Son of God. The choice presented to him was either Caesar or Christ and he chose the wrong man.

The concluding verses of Psalm 22 tell us that the Kingdom is the Lord's and the coming of that Kingdom is imminent. It is good to be ready for His millennial reign of Glory.

Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 “Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God”, so believing, is essential for the certainty of being in His Kingdom. Have you ever thought that everyone who enters the millennial kingdom will be born again; no unbelievers will be present there?

Isaiah ch 9 v 6&7 concurs, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

These verses are beautiful, they tell us of his humanity, of the child born at Bethlehem. They tell us of his Deity, of the Son of God given in sacrifice at Calvary and the various aspects of his character and work described inspires faith and confidence in this wonderful Saviour. Truly, the government will be upon his shoulder. One will observe in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15) that when the shepherd found it, he placed it upon his shoulders. Christ can carry the government of the world on one shoulder but he carries a poor lost sinner rescued by virtue of the work of the good shepherd upon both shoulders. It is good to be saved! Christ’s kingdom will manifest in beautiful pristine glory the qualities of government, which are absolutely just and fair in their Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.